20.
This document is
part manifesto and
part employee handbook.
It’s part who we are and
part who we aspire to be.

21.
This document is
part manifesto and
part employee handbook.
It’s part who we are and
part who we aspire to be.
When something is
aspirational (not yet true)
we try to call that out.

22.
THE HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE
1. We are maniacal about our mission and our metrics.
2. We strive to Solve For The Customer.
3. We are radically transparent.
4. We believe in autonomy not autocracy.
5. We are unreasonably picky about our people.
6. We invest in individual mastery and market value.
7. We constantly question the status quo.

33.
Have the courage to start with
the customer. My biggest
regrets are the moments that I
let a lack of data override my
intuition on what’s best for our
customers.
ANDREW MASON.
FORMER CEO OF GROUPON
IN HIS DEPARTURE EMAIL

34.
FOR EVERY DECISION
WE SHOULD ASK
OURSELVES:
“Selves, what’s in it for
the customer?”

35.
WAIT. Does “Solve For The Customer”
mean just giving more away for free?
Wouldn’t that delight customers?
NO. To delight customers in the
long-term, we have to survive in the
short-term.
Because…

37.
We have a professional sales team.
Does hitting our sales goals support
our long-term mission?

38.
YES – WITH ONE CAVEAT.
Having delighted customers requires having
customers (funny how that works).
We’re on the right path as long as we sell to
customers that we expect to delight.

39.
YES – WITH ONE CAVEAT.
Having delighted customers requires having
customers (funny how that works).
We’re on the right path as long as we sell to
customers that we expect to delight.
This is the key. We
shouldn’t sell customers
we’re not justifiably
confident we can delight.

40.
WE LOVE TO TEACH.
We believe success comes
through educating people,
not exploiting them.

44.
WE SHARE (ALMOST)
EVERYTHING.
We make uncommon amounts of
information available to
everyone in the company
(all 800 of us)

45.
We protect information only when:
It is legally required.
Example: Information covered under a
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
It is not completely ours to share.
Example: Individual compensation data

47.
FROM
Notes:
Mike Volpe: Our CMO (been here since the beginning)
Ilya: An early HubSpot customer
GC: General Catalyst Partners (VC that led our Series A funding)

48.
We have open access to
anyone in the company.
It’s not an open door policy.
It’s a no door policy.

49.
SEATING HACK.
A large part of the company goes through a
semi-random “seat shuffle” every 3 months.
We’ve been doing this since the beginning.
It reflects our “change is constant” credo.
It also circumvents a lot of needless politics.
(we hate politics with the heat of a thousand suns)

50.
The intent behind all this
transparency is to support
smarter behavior and better
decisions.
So…

55.
USE
GOOD
JUDGMENT.
Instead we have a 3-word policy on
just about everything:

56.
Social media policy.
Travel policy.
Sick day policy.
Buy a round of drinks at an event policy.
Work from home during a blizzard policy.
Our policy on all of these (and most other) things:
USE GOOD JUDGMENT.

57.
customer > team > individual
Here’s the cheat sheet on good judgment:

58.
team > individual
Don’t solve for your personal interests to
the detriment of the team.
Be a team player,
not a politician.

59.
customer > company
Don’t solve for the company’s interest
at the expense of the customer .
Solving for customers’
interest is in our long-term
interest too.

74.
Wait. Doesn’t being humble mean
lacking confidence?
No.
The very best people are self-aware
and self-critical – not arrogant.
Examples: Bezos. Buffett. Berners-Lee.
(and that’s just some of the Bs)

75.
Humility is not thinking
less of yourself; it is
thinking of yourself
less.
C.S. LEWIS.

76.
When things go well,
humble people tend to
share the credit.
When things go poorly,
they tend to
shoulder the responsibility.

82.
WAIT. Aren’t some people just private?
This is not about sharing personal
information. (What happened in Vegas should stay in Vegas)
This is about sharing knowledge and data
generously.

83.
HUMBLE
EFFECTIVE
ADAPTABLE
REMARKABLE
TRANSPARENT
We like people
with heart.

84.
HUMBLE
EFFECTIVE
ADAPTABLE
REMARKABLE
TRANSPARENT
We like people
with heart.
Yes, “heart” is a bit cheesy.
We’re a bit cheesy sometimes.

85.
We don’t just
believe in these values,
WE BET ON THEM.
We recruit, reward and release people
based on these values.

86.
Compromising on culture fit
is mortgaging the future.
It’s reasonable to want to hire for skills and
experience when the need for help is painfully acute.
It’s reasonable. But, it’s also wrong.
The interest rate on culture debt is crushingly high.

87.
Don’t hire
these people.
Life is short, and it’s
just not worth it.

88.
Does this mean we only accept
those that match our values
perfectly?
No. Confucius has good advice
here…

90.
We’re a team, not a family.
We hire, develop and cut smartly
so we have stars in every position.
+1 We couldn’t have said it
better ourselves, so we didn’t.

91.
Don’t just hire to delegate.
It’s tempting to bring people in that you can
push off work you don’t have time for.
Hire to elevate.
Bring people in that can teach you something.
Continually seek to raise our average.

92.
Sometimes, amazing people graduate
and leave HubSpot.
We call them
HubSpot Alumni.
We expect them to go on to do
more amazing things.
We want them as friends
and advocates.
So…

93.
WE INVEST IN
ALUMNI HAPPINESS.
We hold regular meetings with our alumni.
We review startup pitches.
We make introductions.
We try to help.

94.
WITH GREAT PEOPLE
COMES GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY.
The goal is for a group of people to
achieve their collective potential.
So…

101.
Unlimited Free Books
Program.
Request a book – it magically shows up
in your Amazon Kindle account.
No muss, no fuss.
No expense sheets.

102.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO
PROGRESS AT HUBSPOT.
1. Gain mastery as an individual contributor
and make magic.
2. Provide spectacular support to those who
are doing #1.
Reality: We have a lot of first-time managers at
HubSpot. Need to invest more in developing them.

111.
WHY DOES COMPLEXITY
CREEP IN?
It is often the easy, seductive answer
to short-term issues.
Fighting for simplicity takes courage and
commitment to the long game.

112.
COMPLEXITY AND THE
TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS.
Example: “I need to hit my goals this month, so
I’m going to push for this exception to our
standard approach.”
Result: You may make your goal now, but we
all pay the price of the complexity forever.
Focus on the long game. Team > Individual.

118.
THE HUBSPOT CULTURE CODE
1. We are maniacal about our mission and our metrics.
2. We strive to Solve For The Customer.
3. We are radically transparent.
4. We believe in autonomy not autocracy.
5. We are unreasonably picky about our people.
6. We invest in individual mastery and market value.
7. We constantly question the status quo.